Dirty Little Secret
by Discommodious
Summary: Kai had always found it interesting how his curiosity was near overpowering, but when Rei came around it succeeded, and he succumbed. He couldn't help but to wonder if it had always been that way, just without a catalyst to bring it out...
1. Orphans and Silent Rebellion

**Hey! Thanks for the reviews, those who read this on Ravenara's account. The story has been deleted from her account and uploaded onto mine, so in the future check back here. Adieu!**

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Beyblade in any way, albeit it would be nice if I did.

**Dirty Little Secret**

_Orphans and Silent Rebellion_

Kai really had tried his best to listen to his parents, but sometimes they could be monotonous. Leaning forward over the kitchen table which his chin resting in the palm of his hand, the general expression of intense parent-induced boredom was clearly present on his features. It was mostly his mother talking while his father interjected a few words here and there. They were about ten minutes into their 'talk' and they still hadn't gotten to the point.

"… And you're getting older, you just turned sixteen a few weeks ago and maybe it's too late but we want to introduce you to something aside from single-child living--"

Honestly, Kai was pretty sure his mother would take home the trophy for world's longest run-on sentence and the multiple uses of 'and'. "Mum. You're losing me, just get to the point."

His mother appeared momentarily surprised by her usually quiet son's interjection. With a glance to her husband, who shrugged she continued. "Well, we'd like to take in an orphan boy. I mean, not go through the adoption and stuff but you know, take care of him…"

Kai tuned her out again as soon as the words 'orphan boy' were processed. When he thought of such the images of young children from third-world countries popped into his head. Count on television to educate you… and limit said education. Furthermore Kai disliked children, and the idea of his parents ogling over another child didn't sit well with him, not that he particularly enjoyed his parents fussing over him either. "Whatever. Have fun." Without another word he excused himself from the table by simply leaving and retreating into his room to commence his self-prescribed literature therapy.

In all honesty Kai found his parent's inability to keep up with him and govern him rather disappointing. True, he didn't cause that much trouble aside from the scuffle at school here or there, but who didn't? It wasn't like he was an academic failure, he did his studies diligently. Perhaps that was why his parents lack of basic ground rules such as curfew, homework straight after school, no drinking or smoking… Kai obeyed those unspoken, unwritten rules on his own without need for his parents to remind him. Kai went out, sure, but he didn't socialize for long and he was almost always back home by ten – post-meridian – at the latest. If not, it was most likely that Bryan or Tala had talked him into sleeping over for whatever reason.

In any case, Kai was not a loud rebel child. Sure, he bore the strong, silent type attitude with the occasional sarcastic or abrasive remark but that was just him. And of course, those who did not know him simply judged him by his way of dress and outer personality but that was sort of what he wanted. Kai avoided fights where he could but he was bound to make enemies – said enemies were quickly dealt with. If he appeared badass then there was less of a threat of people walking all over him.

"Do I have anything that I haven't read more than twice this past month?" Kai muttered to himself while he visually skimmed over the titles of the various paperbacks and hard-covers adorning the shelves of his wall. Eventually his fingertips joined in on the hunt, brushing over the spines of the books until they rested on one that he'd purchased recently yet hadn't the chance to read. It was old, the spine frayed and the corners of the cover were bent, cardboard of the middle exposed. The title was in English, titled _The Line of Beauty _albeit a summary was nowhere to be found. Oh well, it was one of the few books he had that he hadn't read before.

Removing the book from the shelving unit, Kai watched as Stephen King's _Desperation _slumped into the now vacant space. Perhaps depressed that its buddy was gone? The boy snorted with mild amusement at the thought and flopped onto his bed, delving into the newest victim of his peruse.

Kai had a habit of losing all track of time when he commenced his 'therapy' and thus he was surprised that when his mother rapped at his door, entreating entrance and announcing the soon-to-be arrival of dinner. Dinner was normally held around five, give or take a half-hour or so and to confirm this he looked to his clock.

**5:09 PM**

Oh. The male slipped the leather bookmark between the pages of his book, saving where he had left off. Leaving the book on his bed, Kai followed his mother suit to the kitchen where the lack of activity denoted take-out. Hn. Taking his business into the living room his father was found watching _Daily Planet _on the Discovery Channel, thanks to satellite television. The man was intellectual, kind and attractive – so Kai had heard. It was claimed that his smarts came from the elder Hiwatari and his good-looks from both his parents. Who knew Russian and Japanese genes worked well together?

Kai slumped onto the loveseat and appeared to be watching the English-speaking male on the television babbling about passenger jumbo-jets being streamlined like birds and act as such. Nonsense, which was precisely why he turned his thoughts onto _The Line of Beauty. _The book was well-written, captivating and it depicted a controversial topic. Homosexuality. Kai didn't know why but the topic had always interested him, how it was regarded in ancient times as compared to now. In ancient times such acts were common and not minded. They were as normal as a man and a woman together. Unfortunately, when Christianity took hold that was all flushed down the toilet. Oh well, great nations were built on religion.

Kai found it almost depressing.

"Kai, Susumu, the pizza is here!" His mother announced, appearing in the doorway with an appropriately shaped box in her hands. She promptly retreated into the kitchen and both male followed, stomachs overruling the want to continue lounging. At first dinner was silent, favouring Kai and his need to devour several slices at breakneck speed. He wasn't a glutton, but he was damn hungry and when a teenage boy was hungry he was bound to eat almost endlessly. It was common rule. However the silent bliss didn't last forever.

"Oh, Kai… are you doing anything tomorrow?" Doing anything? Of course he wasn't, not unless Tala or Bryan called him up.

"Does sitting upstairs reading or sitting on the computer count?" A rhetorical question.

His mother sighed almost exasperatedly, seemingly tired with her son's sarcasm. "Well, remember our talk earlier today? I sort of already booked a meeting…" She trailed off, intent on catching a reaction.

Kai quirked an eyebrow, pausing just before taking a bite of yet another slice of pizza. "Go on."

"Well the meeting is tomorrow, around noon. You don't have to come but it'd be really nice if you did. He's a nice boy, really. Nekojin from China."

Whoa whoa whoa! Nekojin? Now Kai was interested, but of course he didn't show it. He couldn't allow his parents to think that he actually wanted a little brat running around terrorizing him. "Oh? I'll come, I've got nothing better to do." Oh, he had plenty he could do but curiosity was a priority. "How long is it gonna be?"

Taking a pause, his mother's eyes upturned in thought momentarily, "Uhm, I think only about an hour or so. It's only preliminary and it isn't official or anything." She beamed at him, clearly excited that her anti-social son had agreed to go somewhere with her.

His father raised both his brows before turning a mildly disbelieving look to Kai, "When she says an hour, you better make it two."

"Susumu!"

"What? It's true!"

"Oh, and you don't take twice as long when you go grocery shopping."

"Well what do you expect? They don't have signs over the aisles! Plus, with all those new young boys working there you take twice as long anyhow!" It was playful fighting, but not something enjoyable to anyone below the age of twenty-five.

Kai whistled and plucked his plate from the table, two extra slices stacked. "Whoo… don't need to hear that mom is looking at other guys..." He moved to retreat back to his room and his book and was interrupted.

"Kai! You've eaten so much already!" Count on mother to complain that he wasn't eating enough and then go back and complain he was eating too much.

"Your point? I'm hungry." Just to make sure he wasn't gaining a gut without him knowing it, Kai lifted up his shirt with one hand to inspect his belly. Flat and gifted with the faint outline of abs.

Susumu snorted, "Ana, relax. He's growing, he's going to eat a lot." And thus the two began bickering again, allowing Kai his time to escape with his goods.

Several chapters later and Kai found himself without a book to read once more. Considering the fact that his eyes hurt somewhat and lacked appropriate moisture from blinking he supposed he was done reading for the night. A glance to the clock was taken.

**9:15 PM**

O-kay. Now what was he going to do? The slate-haired boy turned his attention to his computer which hummed quietly. Nothing about it appealed to him at the moment, as with the radio and his assortment of compact discs. Hm. The idea of watching television didn't appeal to Kai either. Really, the only option was to simply go to bed albeit it was rather early.

Fuck that.

Opting to be productive in some way Kai pulled his shirt up and over his head, leaving it on the bed before he moved to the middle of his bedroom. On his hands and the tips of his toes he assumed the appropriate position for push-ups and aimed forty of those. Push-ups were relatively easy if less than fifty were done at a time but that didn't mean he wouldn't work up a sweat. By the time he finished he was panting and sweat already glistened on his skin.

Next on the agenda were sit-ups. Twenty-five or so of those and Kai was ready for a cold shower and _then _bed. Strangely, the prospect of meeting this _boy _had him in a state of impatience, possibly due to the fact that this was his first meeting with what the world called a Nekojin. Unlike common myths and the like, these people didn't _look _like cats what with the whiskers, ears and fur but rather simple qualities. Not much was known about them, but in some senses they were superhuman. Kai was surprised a war or something of the like hadn't broke out against the Nekojin as society had a habit of hating what it didn't understand, feared or envied.

Curious thoughts drifted into pleasant nothingness as Kai drifted off, showered and satisfied with his workout.


	2. Curiosity Sated, Not

_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Beyblade, because if I did it would not be about any sort of children's game including cards, spinning tops and/or both.

**Dirty Little Secret**

_Curiosity Sated, Not_

Kai was displeased to find someone nudging him and urging him to awaken. He was sure that a few times they were told to go away and swatted at. Still, they persisted and he resisted until fingers prodded his sides and belly. Being quite ticklish in the particular area, Kai yelled and writhed in his bed.

"S-stop! I'm up, I'm up!" His protests allowed his mother to retreat, smirking triumphantly at him.

"Good boy. Now get dressed and I'll make you some breakfast." She turned and headed for the door, pausing in the doorway. "Oh, and _please_ do something with your hair."

Oh-so slowly Kai raised from the dead of sleep, scratching his head and rubbing the slightly sore areas of the tickle attack. "Like what?" He asked although his mother was long gone. What could he do with his hair? It was thick and unruly and he didn't find any need to do more the comb it out with his fingers. Still, after he pulled a black t-shirt over his head and slipped on a pair of acid-washed jeans and socks Kai attempted to do something with his slate 'n' navy mop.

Two minutes and a handful of styling gel later Kai descended the stairs and immediately attacked the cupboards and fridge. As usual, Mrs. Hiwatari had become sidetracked and had neglected to make Kai breakfast as promised. No matter, the sixteen year-old was perfectly capable of feeding himself. Armed with cereal, milk, a bowl and a spoon he went to work. By the time he finished his second bowl both parents were urging him to brush his teeth so they could get going. With that final task behind him he whisked away into the car, but not before Kai grabbed his much-needed MP3 player. He just might need some sort of therapy, mingling with some kid.

- - -

"No, no, honey! You gotta go that way! Centennial Park is that way." Mrs. Hiwatari instructed, pointing to a rather derelict street while her husband kept driving straight.

"Ana, Centennial Park is down this way. Trust me, Kai's grade school graduation was there, remember?"

Meanwhile, Kai sunk lower and lower in the backseat, miffed that his MP3 player had run out of battery time. He rested his head on the window, orchid eyes gazing out lazily. He knew full well where Centennial Park was but through experience it was best to let them figure it out on their own. Eventually his father won out and indeed, he was correct. Kai felt a sense of impending doom as his father parked and pulled the key out of the ignition, announcing their arrival.

"Joy." Either his parents chose to ignore his sarcasm or they simply didn't hear him. Either way he trudged behind his parents, hands shoved in his pockets. They were nearing a building which was like a sort of youth hang-out. Most called it The Fort. The front doors swung open of their own accord, automatic, allowing a wall of air conditioning to cascade over him as he passed through the threshold. Oh Gods. There was a group of young children playing amongst themselves on a play mat while a few adults watched, also speaking to each other. Kai swore in Russian under his breath and his mother caught it, immediately reprimanding him in a hushed whisper.

From his right a slightly heavy woman approached, a wide grin stretched across her face. She was dressed in a grey blazer and skirt, with a turquoise blouse beneath. "Ah! Ana, Susumu! Welcome!" She shook each of their hands before her attention turned to Kai, seemingly unperturbed by his less-than friendly demeanour. "Oh, is this your son?"

Ana nodded proudly, placing a hand on Kai's shoulder, "Yes! This is Kai. Kai, this is Akiko."

Kai remained unresponsive aside from a shift in his weight from on leg to the other, "Hi." Was his flat greeting.

Seemingly undeterred by Kai's lack of friendliness, Akiko turned her attention back to his parents, grin never fading. "Rei excused himself to the washroom but—Oh! There he is now!" Heavyset woman turned halfway to look behind her at the black-haired boy that approached.

Kai, to say the least was surprised. Although 'boy' still applied to the male he was by no means a child. He was at least the same age as Kai and only a few inches shorter with pretty boy features. Bright golden eyes, long silken hair. The one named Rei bore a benign yet friendly simper on his lips, one hand in the pocket of his jeans. The sleeveless Chinese silk shirt he wore complimented him greatly. The guy knew how to dress.

Apparently Kai had been staring because Rei's attention moved to him and his smile widened to bear fangs, for lack of a better word. The boy quirked a brow as if saying 'I look that good?'. "Hello."

Akiko practically squealed when Rei addressed Kai on his own and was about to say something when Kai's mother cut in. "Kai, this is Rei. Rei, this is Kai, our son." Her excitement was positively radiating off from her.

Rei held out his hand and Kai took it, simply because he didn't want to make any more of a scene than necessary. So, this was a Nekojin. Fangs, pointed ears and feline-esque eyes. He was sure there was more to it but he wasn't going to find out if he didn't mingle a bit.

The Hiwataris and Akiko had begun to converse about legal matters concerning Rei and the transfer and the like, and both Kai and Rei grew bored. Already they appeared to have some sort of silent connection as when Rei broke away from the group to claim one of the various couches Kai followed. The two remained silent thereafter until Rei nudged him with a foot, shoes removed.

"I take it you weren't entirely willing."

Orchid eyes shifted to the Nekojin prior to an answer being uttered, "Sort of. I didn't have anything better to do." Kai shifted slightly on his rump, aiming to sink lower in the lumpy couch. He leaned away slightly when Rei righted himself and crawled right on over to him, staring with those eerie eyes.

"Your eyes."

An eyebrow was quirked, Kai giving the Chinese boy a peculiar look. "Yes… what about them?"

"They're… dulcet." Rei canted his head to his side and brushed his hair from his eyes. "A pleasing colour and dimension."

Beginning to grow perturbed by the boy, by both his actions and words, Kai shifted uncomfortably. If he hadn't read so much on a regular basis it was likely that he wouldn't have known the definition of 'dulcet'. "Uh-huh, well you're freaking me out so I'm going move, mk?"

Without waiting for an answer he rose from the couch and began to wander back to his parents and Akiko who were still conversing animatedly. A hand grasped his shoulder and Kai looked back at Rei who was biting his lip, a single canine glinting. His brow was knitted with what one could call fear, but fear of what?

"I'm sorry! I know I'm weird."

"Try borderline homosexual sociopath." Kai quipped flatly and made no move to escape Rei. He was willing to at least try to get along with guy. Didn't his mother say he was an orphan? "My mother said you were an orphan."

Rei withered slightly at the jab at both his sexuality and mental health yet lit up when Kai further addressed him. "Yeah. I hate it when people are all; 'Awe, poor boy!'" Nekojin scratched the back of his head, "It's been a decade, I think I've gotten over it."

Kai snorted softly and turned around completely, "Well that's good, I suppose." Fingers slipped into his pockets, thumbs hooked through the belt loops. There was just something about Rei that made him want to hang around. Perhaps it was just the novelty of meeting a Nekojin for the first time.

"Rei, Kai! C'mere for a second, dears!" Akiko called, gesturing for both of them. The two had no choice but to listen and they took their respective sides; Kai next to his parents and Rei next to Akiko.

Was the meeting over already? Kai found it disturbing that he wished the get-together could last longer, and furthermore he didn't know why. Could it be that Rei and him had just clicked, like he had with Bryan and Tala? It was so rare that he met people that he liked at all, let alone almost immediately. What he liked about Bryan and Tala was that they weren't going to let anyone walk all over them and they knew which buttons of Kai's to press and not to press. Rei, however, didn't seem to understand this and he didn't bear any of those qualities, aside from not being excessively annoying.

So, why did Kai like Rei? While the adults continued to blab off track Kai mentally listed all the qualities that he had uncovered about Rei. There had to be something specific that he opted for. Rei was good-looking - although that shouldn't hold Kai sway, he was heterosexual as far as he was concerned - he wasn't loud, he was kind, not afraid to express himself, he was a Nekojin-- Yes. That had to be it, that was the only reason why Kai had agreed to come anyhow. He thought that coming with his parents and seeing Rei would sate his curiosity but alas it was not. Kai wanted more.

"So what do you think, Kai?"

"H-huh, what?" The teenager snapped out of his thoughts and peered at his slightly shorter mother who smiled at him.

"I said, what do you think? Want to see if you and Rei can survive living together?"

Kai turned his attention to the male in question who was staring at his shuffling feet. Something told him that Rei was used to being rejected and he was expecting such today. How many times had he been turned down? "I'll try."

One of Rei's pointed ears twitched prior to looking up, mildly confused. Those goldenrod-hued eyes landed on Kai, brow creasing. "Pardon?"

The youngest Hiwatari smirked and tilted his head, "I said, pretty boy, that I'm fine with you moving in." Hands left the denim of his pockets, arms folding across Kai's chest.

Grinning like a madwoman and squealing like such, Kai's mother threw her arms around him and squeezed. Considering her arms were around his neck breathing became a little laboured. "Oh, Kai honey!"

"Yeah, yeah…" The boy wormed his way out of his exuberant mother's arms and ran a hand through his hair. He caught sight of a certain Nekojin shifting his weight every few seconds, seemingly uncomfortable.

"Good, good! I'll just need the two of you to sign a few documents, and then Rei will be ready to move in, oh, say…" Akiko clasped her hands together, elated. Kai just _knew _she was glad to be getting Rei off her hands.

Kai's father stepped in for once to offer his view, "How about Saturday? Or Sunday?"

"Oh, yes! That's fine. Rei, what do you think?" Akiko turned to her charge, addressing him like she would to a child and that grinded Kai's nerves. Rei was just as old as he, and certainly not a child.

Rei shrugged, feigning nonchalant and brushed his bangs from his eyes. "I'm fine with that." In truth Rei wanted jump up and down or run around or _something. _

"Great! Susumu, how about if I fax the custody papers to you tonight? I've got a meeting to go to--"

"Uh… why can't… Why isn't Rei able to come… today?" Oh Gods, Kai was crossing the line, he was sure. Instead of his curiosity being sated it just grew. Gah!

"I'm sure Rei would like to spend time with his friends at the shelter for the next two days, don't you think, Kane?" Akiko purred. Kai's eye twitched.

"My name is _Kai._"

"Of course. Anyway, I need to go to an important meeting so take care of yourselves. Rei?" Akiko shook Mr. and Mrs. Hiwatari's hand before turning, motioning for Rei to follow. He hesitated, unsure of what to do apparently until he gave a short wave and a good bye, specifically to Kai.

- - -

It turned out that his MP3 player had not been needed after all, and even during the ride home Kai didn't need it. His parent's lively conversation went unheard, in one ear and out the other. All thoughts were on the Nekojin known as Rei and that alone was enough to make Kai wonder more - as if he wasn't already wondering about a lot of things. Aside from the ebony-haired male's immediate appearance there were other feline-esque things about him. The way Rei moved was like that of a predatory trying to conceal its power and as far as Kai had heard he chose his words carefully. Like a vampire trying to seduce a potential victim.

Rei knew how to dress himself and carry himself. He knew how to grab an audience and he knew that the world found him interesting, possibly beautiful. Still, Rei didn't appear to let it go to his head. Why was it that Kai found this irresistible - in a perfectly heterosexual way? At least he _thought _it was heterosexual.

"Let's leave it at that, shall we?" Kai murmured to himself in English.

"What was that, dear?" His mother called back from the passenger's seat. Unlike her husband and son, Anastasia Hiwatari did not speak English.

After dismissing his inquisitive mother with a simple 'nothing' Kai rested his head on the cool glass of the window. Two full days until his curiosity would be sated. Surely if he lived with the guy long enough the novelty would wear off and he would desire Rei's presence so much. Plus, it was only two days - it wasn't _that _long.

Kai was so, so wrong. Those were the longest two days of his life, but his agonizing wait would be paid off, and perhaps he'd get more than he bargained for.

**  
**


	3. Bedroom Mishaps

_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Beyblade, but I do own not one but two pairs of socks.

**Dirty Little Secret**

_Bedroom Mishaps_

Kai leaned rather comfortably against a support pole in the youth centre, arms folded across his chest and eyes closed. Akiko and Rei were late and he was beginning to get antsy. Yes, Kai Hiwatari was worried about someone else. It wasn't so much that he was worried that Rei was injured, it was that he was worried that Rei wouldn't come at all.

The centre was desolate aside from some homeless individual snoozing on a couch at the far end of the building. Kai had slept on and off the night before, but that wasn't all that uncommon. The Russian-Japanese often had an erratic sleeping pattern, finding himself too bored to even sleep. Kai recalled the fairly recent incident in which he was compelled to wander about town in the sleeping hours of the night for whatever reason. His parents still were unaware of that--

Kai nearly jumped out of his skin when Rei appeared in front of him with a chipper "Bonjour!"

"Holy hell!" He gasped in English before he slapped Rei over the head with a flick of his wrist. "Baka."

In retaliation, Rei shrunk away and assailed Kai with the injured kitten expression. Yes, Kai was a badass but that didn't mean he was heartless and thusly he groaned. "Just don't sneak up on me like that, mk?"

Straightening, wincing in the process, Rei flashed Kai a toothy grin, "Oh, so you'd rather me pounce on you from behind?"

"Sure, if you like a steel pole in your face." Kai quipped prior to investigating the cause of Rei's previous discomfort. Before Rei could pull away he grabbed the hem of the Nekojin's navy t-shirt and pulled it up slightly. Gauze, quite a bit of it, served contrast to the Chinese boy's sun-kissed skin. "Do I want to know what happened?"

Rei tugged his shirt back down and shrugged. "Don't ask me, I'm not psychic." He sighed softly at Kai's hard stare and buckled. "I was screwing around in the old children's park and got jabbed in the stomach. It wasn't real deep and I can stop wearing the bandages tomorrow."

Uh-huh. Was Kai the only one that couldn't see Rei the Nekojin and falling together in the same sentence? Eyebrow quirked, Kai nodded slowly as if he hadn't been all that interested in Rei's explanation after all. Seconds later a coin on a simply chain was held in his face. "Huh?"

"I was bored, so I went through all the crap I'd collected and made stuff with 'em. You can have it if you want." Rei announced, pointing to a similar coin on a chain coiled around his wrist.

To say the least Kai was surprised that on their second day of meeting, Rei was already giving gifts. No, it wasn't exactly a gift; it was just a means of getting rid of junk that Rei didn't want. Kai couldn't say he wasn't endeared even slightly by the simple gesture, albeit he already had a lot of junk floating about his room and dresser drawers. Pale fingers curled around the coin and when it was released Kai brought it up for inspection. It featured what Kai would assume was Suzaku, the God of the South.

"Err, thanks?"

"Don't mention it," Rei pulled away and slumped against the other side of the pole. "Akiko just doesn't shut up."

Kai snorted and glanced over to where the said woman was, talking up a storm with his parents. Ha. "Yeah. Muzzle anyone? Looks like we'll be here for a bit." Indeed, but either way Rei was around so he didn't mind a whole lot - plus the heavyset woman was keeping his parents occupied.

Rei giggle-snorted and craned his head back until his skull made contact with the steel pole. "I think I should change my bandages. I didn't do it this morning and I'm supposed to do it twice a day." He pushed himself away from the metal shaft and had been about to invite Kai to come with him when the elder's mother called them both over. Apparently Akiko hadn't been as talkative as originally thought and gave them the go ahead to whisk Rei and his single suitcase of belongings away.

It was noted that Rei seemed to be greatly relieved that he was finally out of the woman's care, and once in the car he slumped into the luxurious seating. It was quite clear that the Hiwatari family were good with their money. The two teenagers remained silent during the entire drive, both of them preferring to enjoy car rides rather than talk them away. When that oh-so exciting escapade was done and over with the two boys retreated into the comfort of Kai's room having had enough of the outside world for the time being.

Although he tried Kai wasn't always the most organized being in the world. Naturally, when he entered his room and realized how much of a mess it was, what with clothes on the floor, books everywhere and so much more that urge to scrub everything down with disinfectant surfaced. Rei appeared to be genuinely amused as he watched his host go about sorting things and reorganizing from his perch sprawled on the bed.

"Y'know, most people clean up before they pick up their guests." Rei said with a chuckle.

Kneeling in front of his bookcase, sorting out his books alphabetically, Kai grunted, "Tell me you can clean this dump of a room and get ready in five minutes and you can consider me your worshipper."

Rei made a high-pitched noise in his throat that coincided with brief laughter. "Fair enough. But don't you think it'd be smart to have kept your room clean?"

Kai rolled his eyes and turned half-way to address the pretty boy on his bed, "You wanna clean my room?"

The Nekojin hopped off the bed and scooped a heap of clothes into his arms from the floor, dropping them into the hamper. "How nice of you to invite me, good sir!" He tousled Kai's slate hair and went to work alphabetizing his collection of compact discs and DVDs.

Kai didn't return to his work right away, opting to watch Rei, perhaps making sure he wasn't doing something stupid. A few moments passed and he returned to placing Stephen King's _Hearts in Atlantis _with its siblings, _'Salem's Lot _and _Desperation. _An amount of time passed and the two of them worked rather silently aside from a few words exchanged here and there as well as the odd comment from Rei.

During one of these silent spells, Rei completely finished his organization of the compact discs and DVDs and had placed all the dirty clothes in the hamper. He stood and turned simultaneously - and collided with Kai's computer chair. With a cry he toppled over and twisted to land on his hands and feet, pain springing forth along his bandaged wound.

Kai didn't say a word but that was not to say he wasn't concerned; words were not the only way to express such. He grasped Rei's hand and went to pull him up, yet the Nekojin objected.

"Ah, no!" Rei bit his lip and leaned back while he lifted up his shirt. Fresh blood seeped through the gauze. "Fuck. I think I tore my stitches out."

"One sec'." Kai grunted and vacated the room to raid the nearest of five - yes, five - bathrooms. The medicine cabinet was flung open, fingers and eyes working together to sort through all the medications, ointments and anti-allergy agents to find anything that might be needed. Fresh gauze and peroxide were found and upon skimming over the contents in the closet in the hall, a rarely used First Aid kit was found.

Returning to his bedroom, Kai set everything down beside him while he knelt next to Rei. The Nekojin had already partially removed the sodden gauze to reveal an already well-healed gash. Although the wound itself was more or less healed, what remained of the biodegradable stitches tore the flesh. The wound had been previously treated, evidently, so Kai supposed the peroxide wasn't needed but just to be safe he filled the bottle's cap with the disinfectant and poured it over the wound.

The muscles of Rei's belly twitched and clenched. "It's cold,"

Kai didn't reply and instead grabbed an old shirt from the hamper and used it to wipe the excess peroxide and blood. Next he readied the fresh gauze and completely removed the old one with Rei's help. The light-haired teenager persisted half-way through wrapping the gauze around his companion's torso when he paused to look at Rei and realized the compromising position the younger male was in.

Although no colour flushed his face, Kai pulled away, "You can finish."

Rei did as he was told, or rather did as he was expected before pulling his shirt down. There, decent once again. "Thanks - but you didn't have to wrap me up y'know." He took Kai's hand as it was offered and was hoisted to his feet.

"You didn't object." Kai stated simply prior to flopping onto his bed. Eyes once more fell on that long hair of Rei's which was currently braided. "Ever consider a haircut?"

The 'guest' followed Kai onto the bed, leaning against the wall congruent to the one Kai occupied. "I did get one, the day before we first met actually."

He already had a haircut? Orchid eyes stared at the long raven braid that reached Rei's rear. Speaking of which, the guy had a tight ass… And Kai was going to end that train of thought right there. Unneeded thoughts. "It was longer than that?"

Nodding, Rei absentmindedly played with the fanned end of that braid. "It was crazy long. Like Rapunzel."

"You do realize there's a modern meaning for Rapunzel, right?" Kai inquired, recalling some of the western slang he'd picked up on his trips to North America.

Rei snorted and grinned at the orchid-eyed male. "Uh, yeah. I was referring to the fairytale."

At that precise and perhaps inconvenient moment Mr. Hiwatari poked his head in and immediately grinned. He was pleased that the boys were getting along. "Hey! Me and your mother got called on impromptu business matters. We should be back sometime tomorrow… will you two be okay?"

Rei looked to Kai and Kai looked to Rei. There seemed to be some sort of silent communication and both boys looked to the adult. Kai was the one to speak, "Yeah, dad. We'll be fine."

"Yeah! The worst we can do is clean the house."

Kai's father, amused, laughed, "Alright, alright." And he was gone from the doorway. Kai gave Rei an incredulous look.

"Clean the house? Do you have any idea how huge this house is?"

"Ginormous, I know. But, if your dad thinks the absolute most we're going to do is clean it then he won't have a problem leaving us home alone." Rei reasoned as he stretched out on the bed.

Grunting in reply, unable to argue his point Kai gazed out the window. Through the maples of his front yard he watched pedestrians passing by, so infinitesimal in their thoughts, actions. So terribly irrelevant to his life, unlike the boy next to him.

"Who are you?"

"Eh?"

"I know your first name. I know what you look like, but I don't know you."

Rei seemed to sigh and then he leaned forward, rolling over so he was on his back, looking up at Kai upside-down. "I don't know you either. This is our second day together, you can't expect everything to come out all at once. Takes away from the excitement of living with someone."

"Kai! Rei!" Mrs. Hiwatari called from downstairs, causing her son to roll his eyes and begrudgingly left the bed, Rei in tow. The two of them slunk down the stairs to the awaiting women, clad in a matching blazer and skirt along with other features fitting for a business woman.

"There's tonnes of food in the fridge and freezer, and the cupboards. There's a list of phone numbers on the fridge," She struggled with one of her ill-fitting high-heeled shoes, "And please behave. If you have a wild party with girls, make sure there's no evidence that you did alright?"

Kai inwardly groaned at his mother's failed attempt at a jest while Rei snickered. Mrs. Hiwatari was about to say something else when her husband cut in, telling her it was time to go and the boys could take care of themselves.

After bidding them farewell - at Rei's encouragement to act like a good boy - the two of them meandered into the living room. There they each claimed a couch and remained silent for the longest time. So, he and Rei were alone - but did that really make a difference? Even when his parents were home they never bothered him. In fact, Kai could have had a party when they were home and they wouldn't have noticed. Kai assumed the next few hours would be relatively uneventful, as usual. If only life were that easy to predict.


	4. Sex Ed Awry

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Beyblade - otherwise I wouldn't be writing fanfiction about it, I'm sure.

**Dirty Little Secret**

_Sex Ed. Awry_

"No! I'm not showing it to you!"

"Why not? I wanna see it!"

"Rei… it's mine."

"_Please?_"

"Alright, fine. Not a word of this to anyone."

"It's huge! And… it's just dangling there… Can I touch it?"

"What? Uhh… sure?"

Rei grinned at Kai and reached out, prying the top of the terrarium away. He reached down, intent on getting a feel of the Burmese python coiled around a large branch beneath the heat lamp. Kai sighed in exasperation and crossed his arms over his chest in impatience. After a few moments of stroking the dilatory reptile Rei withdrew his hand and placed the lid back onto the tank. He turned to face Kai, grinning like a fiend.

"Now why didn't you want me to see it?"

"Through experience… Let's just say some people I know tend to get carried away with potentially dangerous animals." Ahem, Tala.

"I'm a potentially dangerous animal," To prove his point, Rei gnashed his teeth and clawed the air. "Rawr."

Kai reacted by raising his eyebrows and smirking, "If you're dangerous, mice must be ferocious."

"They are! They're crazy little fuckers! The go around all cute-like and then when you least expect it, BAM, they're on you like shit on Velcro." During his spiel, the Nekojin acted out what he was describing, imitating his impression of a ninja mouse.

"Yeah, alright William Shatner. With that imagination or yours and your energy, you must eat like a cow." Kai teased as he made his way out of the 'Zoo Room' - where they kept any pets that required tanks or cages. "Let's feed you, pretty boy."

Bouncing up alongside his companion, Rei draped a friendly arm 'round Kai's broad shoulders. "Pretty boy? Ohh, now who's borderline homosexual, hm?" His arm tightened around Kai, pulling the slightly taller male closer momentarily before breaking away.

"You wanna know who wears the pants in this relationship?" Retaliated Kai.

Walking backwards now as they entered the living room, Rei remained grinning. "Oh, is this a relationship we're in now? Scandalous!" The Nekojin snickered, "I can see it now; Hiwatari heir dating orphan boy."

Without warning, Rei was thrown to the floor with a tackle, Kai struggling with him to pin him down. Rei arched his back inward and kicked one of Kai's legs out from under him, giving the Chinese male the upper hand. Kai, being more built up than the younger, threw Rei over onto his back once more where their fingers laced together, struggling with each other. Eventually Rei bucked up, caught the larger teenager by surprise and rolled over, leaving Rei on top. Kai relented in his attack and Rei allowed him to sit up slightly, eyes locking.

Although the wrestling match was over, the two still appeared to be battling for dominance. Kai simply couldn't stand the tension and before rational thinking kicked in, testosterone took over. He crushed his lips against Rei's, who resisted for mere seconds. Slowly Kai righted himself more and more while Rei shrank back until Kai rolled over onto him. The Nekojin whimpered and pressed his knee against Kai's groin which in turn brought Kai back to heterosexual thinking. Rei was _not _a girl, he was a boy just like him with a real live dick. The Russian-born withdrew in a hurried fashion, looking mildly fearful of how Rei would react.

It was evident the Chinese boy was just as surprised, albeit it was cleared he'd gotten some enjoyment out of it. Hm, comparing this to Mariah… Rei got far more kicks out of this. "Why'd you stop?" Clearly he was oblivious to the obvious fact that the two of them were male, and such wasn't considered run-of-the-mill.

"I- uhh, what?" During those few syllables, Kai's voice skipped up and down several octaves.

"I said," Rei's arms locked around Kai's neck, yanking him down close, "Do it again."

Kai couldn't. He wanted to, but he couldn't. It was going way, way too fast and he wasn't sure Rei realized the ramifications. "I can't." His forehead rested against Rei's. Oh Gods, he'd just kissed another guy, and the guy didn't freak out. If Rei had freaked out, like how he assumed most men would react, Kai could deal with that. What he couldn't deal with was Rei asking for more. Had he been correct the first time he called him gay?

"Sorry," Rei released Kai and shifted beneath him in an attempt to wriggle free. "Spur of the moment."

Without arguing, Kai lifted himself off the Nekojin and made quick for the kitchen. He thoroughly raided the various cupboards as well as the fridge. He'd suddenly lost his appetite, but he knew that when he went to bed - which he planned to do very soon simply to escape Rei - he'd become ravenous. A large disposable bowl of instant ramen was set on the counter while he tended to filling the electric kettle. When he turned back to the counter Rei was found, arms folded on the granite surface, chin resting on them.

"Why'd you do it?"

Kai's eyes remained trained on those amber ones, jaw clenching. "I… I don't know, Rei." The kettle began to whistle and it was hushed via being unplugged, contents poured into the Styrofoam bowl. "I'm just as confused as you are."

Rei clearly wasn't satisfied as he frowned and his brow creased in worry, almost. "Mm." He erected himself and opted to vacate the kitchen, perhaps to lounge in the living room - that was, until Kai tugged him back by his wrist.

"If I hurt you, I didn't mean to." The instigator of the whole situation murmured quietly, finding himself between a rock and a hard place. The Rock being the general belief of society and the Hard Place being Rei. "But why did you…" No, he wouldn't go there. "Why didn't you push me away?"

"Did it ever occur to you that I might have enjoyed it?" Rei mentally berated himself for the snippy tone he took. "Look. Why don't we do ourselves a favour and not talk about it anymore? We've already established that you don't know why you did it and that I liked it - but it's not going to happen again. Alright?"

For the longest time Kai stared rather dumbly at Rei while he processed what had been said. Eventually Kai nodded in agreement and turned back to his ramen, chopsticks in hand. He had been about to dig into his chow when something hit him, figuratively, and he looked up, staring at Rei queerly.

"Did you just…?"

Rei's only reaction was a soft chuckle before he nodded. "Yeah. I'm not a sociopath, though." He winked and clucked through his teeth, "You fit that bill better."

Sloppily wolfing the instant ramen down, Kai's brow remained furrowed in thought. He couldn't help but to think that Rei had asked him not to talk about it anymore simply for Kai's sake. But why? Well, he supposed it was a nice thing to do… Why would Rei want to make Kai any more uncomfortable than it was needed? Finding that all the noodles were gone and half of the broth spilled over the counter, Kai disposed of the Styrofoam bowl and wiped the counter down. On his way to the nearest bathroom or rather into said lavatory, the door was slammed right in his face with a loud cry of surprise.

Oh. Another bathroom would be needed then, but alas Kai didn't feel the want to trek any further than the living room. Thusly he took temporary residence in the armchair, curled up as he waited for the closest of bathrooms, the one Rei currently occupied apparently, to be vacated.

Was it even possibly to ignore what had happened between them? And it had happened so soon in whatever relationship that they had that it sent Kai's head whirling. Eyelids began to droop but he lacked the motivation to stay awake. He was comfortable here and he was sure Rei could find his room…


End file.
